Dashi and the Whale Shark
by Gale Force
Summary: The first in a series of stand-alone stories exploring the characters of the Octonauts after certain of their adventures. First up, Dashi has a problem, long after her adventure in entering a cave only to realize it was the mouth of a giant whale shark, which closes on her.


**Dashi and the Whale Shark**

 **I.**

"Coming up on the southeast tip of the coast of Mexico now, Captain," announced Dashi. "Yucatan Peninsula straight ahead."

"Very good, Dashi. Take us in to about one mile, and then land the Octopod."

"The Yucatan Peninsula?" said Kwazii. "What's a peninsula?"

"A peninsula is a land mass that is surrounded on three sides by water. It's different from an island, which is totally surrounded by water."

"The Yucatan Peninsula," chimed in Professor Inkling, "separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico. It is made mostly of limestone, which is a type of stone that is very soluble. Meaning there are thousands of sinkholes throughout the region. Some of these sinkholes lead to the ocean, so the sinkholes are termed an anchialine system – they are landlocked but connected to an ocean."

"Those sink holes are called cenotes," Dashi said excitedly. "They are famous for their very clear water. I've never been in a cenote before. I should be able to get some fantastic photographs!"

"And that's our mission," agreed Captain Barnacles. "We are to explore the system of cenotes and see how far the system extends from the ocean into the interior of the peninsula. Octonauts, to the Launch Bay!"

A few minutes later, the Ocotnauts were standing in the Launch Bay.

There were five sea scooters lining the sides of the launch bay.

"Octonauts," said the Captain, "the tunnels from the cenotes into the interior are very narrow – too narrow for any of the Gups. So we'll be taking the Octo-scooters. And since we're going into caves, we have to be very careful not to get lost. We'll be stringing guidelines as we go along. We'll all stick together. Kwazii, Dashi, Peso – to the Sea Scooters. Tweak – open the Octoi-hatch."

The Octonauts climbed on board the sea scooters and activated their helmets. One by one, they followed Captain Barnacles out of the Octopod and toward the waiting tunnels.

Dashi's had slung her camera over her shoulders and was holding on to the sea scooter with both hands. The lights from the sea scooters illuminated the water in front of them clearly. The water was crystal blue, and they could all see the sunlight far above.

In front of them, the water grew lighter and lighter. They were approaching a huge cavern. "This cavern is the mouth to the tunnels," said Captain Barnacles. "Let's go straight through and explore the rocks on the other side."

As they drew closer and closer to the rocks, Dashi felt her paws growing colder and colder. Her mouth was dry, and her chest felt cold. She took a deep breath. The rocks…they were so high, and dark….was…was that rock moving.

"Here's a tunnel," Captain Barnacles reported. "I'll fix a guideline to this stalactine. There. Alright, here we go."

Captain Barnacles entered the tunnel, followed by Kwazii, Peso, and finally, reluctantly, Dashi.

She was finding it hard to breathe, and felt like the rocks were pressing in on her.

The light on her oxygen indicator showed half-full. She had gone through quite a lot of oxygen in a short amount of time."

"Captain," she said, her voice slightly panicky, "there's something wrong with my oxygen. It's being used up too quickly. I only have half-a -ank left"

"A half-a-tank? After ten minutes? There's certainly something wrong. Return to the Octopod, Dashi," Captain Barnacles said quickly. "Peso, you go with her."

"I should have enough oxygen to get back to the Octopod," Dashi said. "I can go pretty fast with the Octo-scooter."

"It's better if Peso goes with you. Your oxygen indicator may have shorted out, or you may not have enough oxygen. Peso can share his with you if you need it. Hurry, both of you. Back to the Octopod."

 **II.**

"I've checked your diving suit thoroughly, Dashi," said Tweak, coming into the dining room where Dashi and Peso were enjoying cups of hot chocolate. "There was nothing wrong with it. The oxygen indicator worked fine, and the tanks held the air without leaks."

"Oh," said Dashi. "Well, thanks, Tweak."

"No problem, Dashi." Tweak took a bite of her ever-present carrot and returned the way she came.

Dashi sighed, shook her head and took a sip of her hot chocolate.

"What's the matter, Dashi?" asked Peso.

"I…I'm not sure, Peso. I was so excited to see the cenote, and I was feeling fine. But as soon as we got into the cenote – a cave surrounded by rock…. I…I started to feel frightened. I don't know why. I felt like I had to get out of there. And when it was time to go into the tunnel…then it became even worse. I couldn't go in there. And I don't know why! All I know is I was afraid!"

"Sounds like you have claustrophobia," said Peso thoughtfully.

"Claustrophobia? But I've never been afraid of caves before. Or tunnels."

"You were never swallowed by a whale shark before. And remember you thought you were in a cave."

"But that was months ago, Peso. And I wasn't afraid at the time. I knew the Captain would rescue me. Him and Kwazii and you."

Peso nodded. All the Octonauts knew that Captain Barnacles would rescue them.

"But," he said out loud, "maybe consciously you weren't afraid, but subconsciously you were. And it all came back to you today."

Dashi sipped her hot chocolate.

"That makes sense, Peso. Subconsciously, I was just remembering what it was like, being swallowed by that whale shark. And thinking…I guess…what if this isn't a cave, but the mouth of a monster!"

"I don't blame you for being frightened," Peso said sympathetically.

Dashi took a deep breath. "But now that you explain it…I have to find out if it will happen again. I want to be able to go into that cenote tomorrow!"

She jumped to her feet.

"Let's go."

"You want to go back to the cave right now? I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Just into the cenote itself, not the tunnels," Dashi said. "Now that I know what caused my…my fear…I have to see if I'm over it."

"Okay. I'm sure Tweak has already refilled the oxygen canisters and charged the sea scooters back up again. Let's go!"

Dashi and Peso hurried back to the Launch Bay.

"I want to go back to the cenote and do some exploring, Tweak," Dashi said. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not," said Tweak. "I can recharge the air tanks and the batteries again when you get back, no problem!"

Dashi and Peso donned their diving gear, climbed back onto the Octo-scooters, and set out for the cenote.

After just a few seconds, though, she could feel herself tensing up.

"Keep calm, Dashi," Dashi told herself sternly. "You're going into a cave, not a whale shark. And it's not a monster with jaws waiting to close on you, either!"

But as she grew closer to the entrance to the cenote, her paws were sweating where they were clenched on the handles of the sea scooter. Her muscles were tense, her chest was cold."

"Stop this," she told herself. "Stop this! Why are you so afraid? You're not afraid of caves. You're _not_!"

Peso and his sea scooter were right beside her. He looked at her with concern.

"Are you okay, Dashi?"

"I…I….yes," said Dashi.

She took a deep breath, and then another one.

Now they were in the cenote. The cave walls loomed over her. They didn't seem to be as bad as before…they weren't like monstrous rock creatures ready to attack her, but still she felt physically ill. Her whole body was tense and she couldn't breathe.

"We have to go back, Peso," she told the little medic wretchedly. "We…oh, let's go!"

She turned the scooter around and headed it at full speed back out into the open ocean.

III.

Tunip carried a tray over to her, with a cup of hot chocolate and tiny marshmallows bobbing on the surface. He looked at her with concern, glanced at Peso, and hopped away.

Tweak had been surprised at their sudden return, but she had seen Peso signaling to her and merely set about refilling air tanks and recharging batteries.

"Oh, Peso," Dashi said, wrapping her hands around the hot mug of cocoa. "It happened again. Even before I got into the cave! Right after we left the Octopod. I started feeling sick."

She covered her eyes with her hands.

"What am I going to do, Peso? What if I start feeling claustrophobic here on the Octopod."

"Calm down, Dashi," said Peso soothingly. "I don't think you were feeling claustrophobic this time. I think you were just afraid of being afraid. And your body did the rest."

Dashi blinked at him. "What do you mean?"

"It's called a self-fulfilling prophecy," said Peso. "Or auto-suggestion. Maybe both. Anyway, you were so afraid that you would feel afraid again, that subconsciously your body tensed up on you, and made you feel sick."

Dashi laughed shakily.

"Well, it's true I started feeling tense right after we left the Octopod, even before we got to the cave."

Peso nodded.

"You didn't want to feel scared, but you were afraid you might feel scared. So your body started tensing up right away, and you didn't understand why, and so you really started getting scared."

Dashi took a deep breath and sipped her hot chocolate.

"So, what do I do now?" she asked.

"Let's just take it easy for the rest of the day," said Peso. "I think if we do baby steps, you'll be okay. Tomorrow we should just go into the cave and come out again. The next day, we can stay inside a bit longer. Now that you know what the problem is, I don't expect it should take long, but the mind can be a funny thing."

Dashi smiled. "I feel better already, Peso. You're a great medic."

Peso smiled.

III.

Dashi, with Captain Barnacles and Kwazii on one side of her and Peso on the other, aimed her sea scooter into the blue water of the cenote.

She had breathed deeply all the way from the Octopod, and her friends had given her regular thumbs-up as they made their journey.

Dashi brought her sea scooter to a halt in the middle of the cenote.

"How are you feeling, Dashi?" said Captain Barnacles with concern.

The night before, she and Peso had talked to Barnacles about her experience with claustrophobia. He had promised his full support to help her get over her fear.

"And if for some reason it takes a while, that's not a problem," he had said. "How many times do we ever go into a cave? Once or twice a year?"

Dashi had smiled at him gratefully, but said, "I still want to get over this."

"I know you will, Dashi. We are behind you 100%."

Now, in the warm, clear water of the cenote, Dashi took a deep breath. She was feeling a bit tense, but it was nothing like what she had experienced the day before.

"I'm okay, Captain," she said. "I'm feeling fine. I think I can go into the tunnel now."

"Are you sure? What about baby steps? You've succeeded in entering this large cavern. Tomorrow you can do the much smaller tunnel."

"No Captain, thank you. I'm feeling fine. Peso's advice last night and your encouragement today has helped. I think I'm okay. I know I'm okay. I'm ready to go into the tunnel."

"Okay, Dashi. Well, we'll just follow the guidelines until we get to where Kwazii and I left off last night. And if at any time you want to turn around, just say so. How's your oxygen holding out?"

Dashi looked at the indicator and smiled.

"Oxygen at 100%, Captain," she said. "Everything's fine."

"Very good, Dashi. Okay, everybody, let's go!"


End file.
